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Evolution of a king (pic heavy!)

After seeing thrillbilly's blueing of his 17, I decided it was gonna be the final (maybe) look for the 9. This are the several stages that it has gone thru since I got it.

First thing I did was scale liners from a thin cutting board, as it seemed simple to do and a great visual enhancer:

At this stage I also messed with a rotary tool and a heated dentist pick on the scales, but it will show up better in the last shots. Shortly after the liners came the kydex; caught up in the fever and still learning, the BK9 was my third kydex sheath:

As I said, I was still learning (and still am, it never ends). It was later that I found out about taping the blade to have some room and prevent scratches... my 9 developed a scratch 2 inches from the tip that kinda irked me - at the time, I still cared about coatings After looking at it I decided it looked kinda like a fighting cock so I took a smaller blade and doodled till it looked like it:

(I am Puerto Rican and fighting cocks are part of our culture, just in case u were wondering about the cock )

So, by this time I had gotten the stripping fever and had done some blade stripping, forced patinas and deep acid etching. It was time to get busy with the 9, so before stripping I etched the cock...

several dips and washes later, the coat came off

I carry my blades at work. Cutting is a great part of my work as an agriculture specialist for CBP, and sometimes you just need a big knife (and it's really cool to be able to have a monster riding at my hip!) Now, all my kydex is spaced for tek loks, but with blades bigger than 7" they ride too high for my taste. I have tried several combos of drop leg kydex loops, d-rings and nylon straps but none have satisfied me so far. If you noticed, the loop on the 3rd shot is gone by the time I stripped the blade. Time for something better.

Lately I have been messing with leather - and I love it!!! the only thing I don't like is that I don't have a leather sewing machine and it's a pita to punch holes and stitch up. But, I also love my kydex. With use and after the stripping, the 9 fits perfect in it now. What to do? A FROG!!!

Yea that's right. A harness for the kydex that serves the same function as sword frogs from ages gone by. I had done it once before for a blade I made and it's a perfect solution to carry bigger blades on kydex

For the king, I decided it would be a complete makeover. Started with doing something I wanted to do for a long time but didn't have the confidence to do, but now I do - off with the ramp. Also modified some other parts, see if you can spot the changes! Next came the blueing with scotchbrite and sandpaper, and the final touch was the frog. Instead of going crazy with stamping designs I kept it simple but more functional. The loop was done wider and held by 2 snaps. The guard bump on the kydex was accounted for and a curve was shaped for it. All the screw holes were riveted. And the last touch was a piece of metal I shaped and etched with my mark, then blued and stitched to the front.

thanks peeps! yea, after stripping and etching the cock nobody called the cops so everything's cool no specific pattern on the grivory, just fooling arould with the rotary to create some sort of tribal design on one side and traction skid marks (?) on the other. Might do some pinned wood scales in the future.

Looks quite good, nice work! You ever consider using the rotary and a little drill bit to make those holes in your leather? I use my drill press on mine, but the rotary might even make things a little easier since you can adjust the angle more easily.

Yea I tried but its not good...my rotary is a cheapo 10$ HF special...a drill press is the foremost tool on my wishlist right now. Today I finished a boot knife sheath in leather and the holes were trying my nerves badly.

For leather holes, a single and 4-hole punch is a really cheap and useful tool. Even the Tandy ones, which eventually die after a lot of use, are worth the few bucks. Just need a hammer and something soft under your leather (I use a sheet of craft foam over a flat-ish piece of yellow pine).